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Almost everyone at some point has stumbled across Thievery Corporation. And when you do, you pause. Because it’s different. It pulls from so many genres and cultures: jazz and trance and bossa nova and electronic. It is such a blend and it’s blended so smoothly that there’s no way it’s not going to grab your attention. Thievery Corporation can have this calming, atmospheric sound that makes you want nothing more than to listen to them while lying in a hammock on some tropical beach. But they also incorporate funk, dance, and hip hop into a lot of their songs. That’s because they’re good at what they do, and having been around for about two decades, they have a large repertoire and have been able to experiment with many styles.
So that leads us to The Temple of I & I. Their latest release. It’s got a lot of attack by diving head first into Jamaican rhythm. And it’s got a pretty authentic sound, something like Lee “Scratch” Perry, the Jamaican artist that has been a pioneer of dub since the 70s. It is focused much more on dub than trance. The vocals are clear and upfront and there is a deep groove to each. A bit of a departure from their usual soft jazzy sway. But you can really hear the passion in this newfound clarity.
The Temple of I & I is large, 15 songs total, so while each song has a sort of Jamaican influence to it, there is also a lot of variety. “True Sons of Zion” is one track that seems to incorporate this new focus with Thievery Corporation’s more familiar sound. There is a reggae bounce but echoed legato electronic sounds in the background. while the title track and “Time and Space” also have a similar effect.
The album features artists like Mr. Lif, Puma Ptah, Lou Lou, Zeebo and Elin, who have worked with the group in the past. On “Letter to the Editor” and “Road Block” though they bring in someone new: Racquel Jones, whom the group met on a previous trip to Port Antonio, Jamaica. She showed them some of her demos that used their music as a backing track and they were thrilled, saying “We’ve been waiting years to find a conscious, brilliant, female Jamaican singer and MC.” Those tracks add something to the album. A female voice that is not soothing and angelic but fierce and controlled.
When Eric Hilton explains their idea behind this album, it’s really quite inspiring. He says, The Temple of I & I is a place of worship that exists only in our imagination; a place where all people are chosen people and the unity of living things is possible. So much of the world is divided into tribes and belief systems that have imprisoned people’s consciousness and allowed a few to control the many. Culture can be a blessing and a curse. Humanity transcends tribe and culture. This has been a constant theme in Thievery Corporation’s message since day one.” They are sonic ambassadors of this kind of thinking, bringing together different cultures and genres in a harmonious way.
